When i drive around Teaneck i noticed many properties are very rundown. Cedar Lane stores looks very shabby. They can do something about this problem. There also is not good marketing or signs in teaneck business areas. Everything looks very bland and worn out. Maybe the town can help with that? but it all costs money so better yet have the store owners donate. I am sorry to see Ludewig's go because he ran a very nice business and cared about people. Louie's and the movie theater were in poor conditon for a long time.

In a word, NO. If our Teaneck government could help small businesses they would have done so already. Our Council, I am sorry to say, is like a deer caught in the headlights. They are too busy making plans for the expanded town hall or explaining that our Dept of Public Works can do without a truck garage.

On Cedar Lane, the merchants have paid more and gotten less from the Streetscape project, now with several dead and missing trees and dirty, degraded sidewalk. In my view, our Council lacks imagination and courage. The result is that even an "improvement" is bland and mediocre.
The Streetscape is cluttered with trees where the sidewalk is narrow. It guides visitors to our Cedar Lane with parking signs that must be 40 years old, drab and dreary.
It somehow and for some reason has refused to install FREE bus shelters along the Streetscape after 7 years!
A free bus service that would circulate between all our business districts to allow residents to take advantage of all Teaneck has to offer would be nice. Some seniors don't want to drive and want to get out of the house spontaneously. Some teens don't have parents available to drive them (except to the malls). A circulating bus would provide options for everybody.
This Council has had its turn at leadership and has simply not done well. If it had, we would not have as many problems as we do.

Regarding the DPW, the whole yard should be moved. Give the land and the adjoining park to the state to add to New Bridge Landing SP, and in exchange take the land south of DeGraw Ave across from Glenpointe. The DPW can be "buried" back there so it isn't an "eyesore". Access can be from Ft Lee Rd, and the light at Frank Burr Blvd. Yes it is wetlands, but by filling in the area (just as Disney did in Florida) that problem can be mitigated. The DPW can continue to work at its current location while the new yard is built, correctly, at the new location.

The fundamental issue is that our climate for business couldn't be much worse, and the Township Council / Government are at the center of the problem.

NJ residents pay the highest property taxes in the nation and Bergen County is second-highest in the state, but Teaneck's equalized tax rate is 20% higher than Fort Lee or Englewood to our east and almost 60% higher than Paramus to the west. Ouch!

The Building Department is notorious as a poor place to deal with and the approval process for those proposing projects is seen as a nightmare. The failed four-day work week only adds insult to injury, making the entire Municipal Building unavailable to anyone looking to submit a permit, consult with a building official or deal with a problem.

A Township Council that was far more respectful of spending taxpayer money transparently, effectively and responsibly would go a long way to cutting the differential between Teaneck and its municipal competitors. Even after the five-day week is restored in the near future, a thorough restructuring of the entire building cycle from applying for a permit through getting a Certificate of Occupancy is necessary.

Before Teaneck starts spending our money to target new businesses, we need to take stock of our deep structural flaws, identify the issues that make us so much less competitive and start to make the fundamental changes that Teaneck businesses desperately need to compete successfully.

Local government does not have the responsibility of supporting merchants. Like former Mayor Ostrow said in another forum - This is the changing landscape in Bergen and beyond.

Local government has the responsibility of providing services to its local residents. Merchants need to understand that we live in a capitalist-driven society and if they do not adapt their businesses to the market, then they will need to deal with the market.

It's not rocket science. It has nothing to do with lousy sidewalks, dead trees on or off Cedar Lane, structural flaws or the four day workweek. Those that say it does will just dream something else up once those issues ever go away.

Jacob, how do you get new shoppers to our shopping districts? Teaneck has the formula, not! When you get to Cedar Lane, you can't see the available parking lots because they are behind the stores (except at CVS). Between the lack of parking direction signs, the double parked cars, the many jaywalkers and the frequent sirens (unavoidable, I know), it is just a pleasure to shop here. The dead trees, drab plantings and stained/degraded sidewalk, and frequent "for rent" signs all send a consistent message: "It ain't easy to shop in Teaneck". We locals don't notice but that is what newcomers must see. I can't blame the merchants for that. The responsibility for these public places rests with our town government but the costs rests with the taxpayers.

Yeah they are adopting their businesses thats why they are leaving. Yes clearly businesses pick random towns to set up business and it has nothing to do with the way those towns are run or the area.

There has to be a better way - If nothing is coming from the Council or Township government, maybe there are some super successful businesspeople in town who could step up to the plate and volunteer to work with existing organizations and small businesses to improve things: physical appearance, marketing, PR, events, providing guidance for small businesses. It happens in other communities - why not here? Used to be a paid person - why not now? And what is behind the reputation that Teaneck has always had for making things tough for businesses?

I think the town should help out. They did say they would help with the signage etc. And they did but as someone else has said it all looks well tired looking. They have to do something soon or Cedar Lane is going to be totally empty. They have too many banks, nail places and hair salons. Maybe they could reach out to a couple of franchises to get them onto the lane. I still think a great farmer's market indoor will bring some more people in. I like the Dollar Tree also. Yes it's a dollar store but it's a great franchise and brings in a lot of business to other towns that they are in. The town might be able to help with that and maybe give the people who own the buildings some incentives so they can reduce the rents so that these small businesses can afford their rent. I walked the lane the other day & it's very sad the places that we have lost. I wish they would have stepped in sooner to save the theater, Louie's, the Steakhouse & Yo Boys.

A - Encourage up to (but not always) 6 storeys of construction on all commercial streets, allowing any sensible use (i.e. anything that's non-heavy industrial)

B - Encourage more intensive development of existing property by allowing the construction of ancillary apartments as-of-right on the side of homes, while in the process create affordable housing for young professionals just starting families.

C - Allow for low-intensity commercial first floor/residential second floor development on all street corners in the Township as-of-right. (The owner can elect to make this change if they wish - not a mandate, just an allowed use)

D - Encourage all new office space developments to locate within (an constructed on top of) existing business districts...(Glenpointe is an example of an isolated office/hotel that provides little tax revenue per sq ft and contributed little to nothing to the commercial districts. A large Hotel with a Walgreens on the first floor where Louie's Charcoal Pit once was, would provide many customers for all the stores of Cedar Lane, while adding almost zero car traffic, since nearly all errands could be accomplished on foot.)

These measures would greatly increase the revenues of the town, establish a strong commercial district and maintain a excellent quality of life for residents.

There seems to be several problems that keep the Town from being a strong town:

1-High TAXES. This is a direct result of 96% of land use being Single Family Homes. From a municipal revenue perspective, this type of land use is almost always a money loser over a 30-year ROI period, typically covering 45%-65% of expenses.

2-LAND USE - again, with the town having 96% single family homes, and the business districts regulated into prescribed forms, sizes and heights...the result is a one-story business district that only a small number of people can walk to, while the majority of customers MUST drive, to an area designed pre-car with little existing parking and few opportunities for expansion.

A change in the towns zoning law to allow for several things would have the world of difference on the town:

Those 2 seem to have posted in the wrong order. The bottom post is the FIRST post

Mr. Klatsky (no relation) is apparently knowledgeable/experienced on these issues. Hence it is doubtful our Council will consider his advice (sorry, but that is the record as I see it.) Councilmembers who feel sure they can be reelected time after time regardless of performance in office can behave that way. Councilmembers do get paid plus benefits for their service but the addictive part must be the power they hold. I want to celebrate Teaneck but what is there to celebrate? I understand World of Wings is something to celebrate but it is in an isolated location. Mid-rise housing was omitted from plans with high-rise housing. How many older Teaneck singles and couples have moved out of Teaneck for lack of that housing choice? True, new families have moved in but wouldn't it have been better to have both families stay?
Seems to me Teaneck (desparately) needs better leadership. If this Council can't deliver, it is in our best interest as residents/taxpayers to get another.